- The former Governor of Zamfara State said that troops have annihilated the terrorist gangs, destroyed their camps, and recovered arms and ammunition from them
The new terrorist group, Lakurawa, has been decimated and flushed out of the northwest zone, the federal government has disclosed.
The Minister of State for Defense, Hon. Bello Mohammed Matawalle, made the disclosure on Sunday while addressing newsmen at his Gusau residence in Zamfara State.
The former Governor of Zamfara State said that troops have annihilated the terrorist gangs, destroyed their camps, and recovered arms and ammunition from them.
Matawalle revealed that the rampaging terrorists came to Nigeria from Burkina Faso and Mali to cause havoc.
“We have finished with them in the Northwest zone. Anybody talking about Lakurawa militants is doing so to tarnish the image of the Federal Government and security agencies,” he lamented.
According to the minister, people are peddling fake news to instill fear in citizens and criticized journalists, especially social media operators, for believing such claims without verifying the information.
“The military troops are killing the bandits’ kingpins and their foot soldiers on a daily basis. But the social media operators are not reporting this,” he said.
“We are aware that locals are giving journalists wrong information about the bandits’ activities in the state to discredit the present administration led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
“But we will not succumb to their threats. The Tinubu administration is very much ready to wipe out all the bandits in the Northwest zone before the end of 2025.”
“Security of lives and property of the citizens is the main thrust of Tinubu’s administration, and we adhere to that policy,” he added.
The minister urged Nigerians to disregard the false information being spread by those he described as enemies of peace and progress.
“The battle against banditry is still on, and we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. There is no going back on the arrangement to neutralize all the bandits by 2025,” he added